Description from Flora of China
Saussurea davidii Franchet; S. davidii var. macrocephala Franchet; S. pectinata var. macrocephala (Franchet) Handel-Mazzetti; S. pectinata var. pekinensis Maximowicz.
Herbs 20-100 cm tall, perennial. Stem solitary, erect, apically branched. Basal and lower stem leaves petiolate; petiole 3.5-9.5(-17) cm; leaf blade ovate, ovate-oblong, or elliptic, 5-22 × 2-12 cm, pinnately lobed, abaxially pale green, gland-dotted, and strigose especially on veins but glabrescent, adaxially green, scabrid, and strigose; lateral lobes 4-9 pairs, ovate to narrowly ovate-elliptic, margin sinuate or lobed-dentate, apex acute to obtuse and mucronate. Middle and upper stem leaves shortly petiolate; leaf blade pinnately lobed or undivided and margin entire. Capitula several, in a corymbiform synflorescence, usually long pedunculate. Involucre campanulate, 0.8-1.2(-2) cm in diam. Phyllaries in 4 or 5 rows, apically arachnoid; outer phyllaries narrowly ovate, 10-13 × 3-4 mm, usually reflexed, margin pectinate with 3-5 teeth; middle phyllaries narrowly ovate-elliptic, 11-13 × 1.5-2.5 mm, margin pectinate; inner phyllaries purple, linear, 13-14 × 1-1.5 mm, margin entire. Corolla purple, 1.2-1.4 cm, tube 5-8 mm, limb 6-7 mm, lobes 4-5 mm. Achene blackish brown with black spots, cylindric, 3-5 mm, glabrous. Pappus dirty white; outer bristles 3-4 mm; inner bristles 8-10 mm. Fl. and fr. Aug-Oct.
● Forests, forest margins, trailsides, steppes, ravines; 300-1900 m. Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi.